UFC 145's McDonald doesn't believe Torres is his biggest step up in competition

ATLANTA – Michael McDonald didn’t feel the need to scour the Internet for footage when he found out his next opponent was Miguel Torres. He had already scouted the former champ.

Today, the 21-year-old fighter had the air of a student who’d finished his homework before his classmates at the pre-fight festivities for UFC 145, which takes place Saturday at Philips Arena in Atlanta.

“I don’t feel like I have too much to lose here,” McDonald told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

In the high-stakes world of the UFC, McDonald’s statement is a tough one to believe. But he sold it with confidence, and said he’s already felt the pressure that comes with facing an opponent with superior credentials. He believes Torres isn’t as much of a threat.

“This is the highest-profile fight that I’ve had,” McDonald said. “It’s the most publicity; my opponent has the biggest record and the most experience. But I don’t know if it’s the biggest step up in competition from where I was previously.”

Long before they were scheduled to fight, McDonald said he wanted to fight Torres.

“I think he’s good, and I think I’m better,” he told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “I’ve never looked at him and said if I customize myself to him and his style (that) I think I could beat him. I’ve always said me being me, I think I can beat him as him. I haven’t watched a minute of footage because I’ve studied him, and I already know that I can beat him, and that’s all I need.”

That might sound like the type of bravado that can get a fighter in trouble, especially if you buy into the idea that fighters are always evolving and improving their skills.

And McDonald does believe he’s at least several years away from the best version of himself. But when it comes to Torres, who was once ranked the top bantamweight in the world, he isn’t convinced that the former WEC champ is any different than their days as stablemates in the now-defunct promotion.

“I’ve never really saw him as champion, the best, like I see Dominick Cruz as champion,” he said. “I think he’s the same now as he’s always been. He just doesn’t have that champion title on him anymore.”

More of a challenge, McDonald said, was a fight at UFC 130 against Chris Cariaso in which a broken hand and bad training camp hindered his confidence inside the octagon. Before that was a fight two years ago against Manny Tapia, who at the time was the first ranked opponent he’d fought.

His point is that Torres decorated past isn’t enough to impress him. In fact, he said the former champ’s residence with famed trainer Firas Zahabi has actually hindered his fighting.

“I think he’s a little less aggressive, and honestly, I think that’s a mistake,” McDonald said. “He had, what, like a 30-fight win streak being aggressive, and he got knocked out once? I think that you should stick to what got you where you are.

“If you got knocked out, it’s something as simple as you didn’t have your hands up. The correction would be to be that simple, not changing your entire game. Just my hands weren’t up, I wasn’t technically prepared, go back, fix the mistakes and keep going to work.”

That kind of practicality drives MacDonald outlook on fighting. It may also feed his passion for woodwork, which he said takes up as much time as training. He’s invested a significant chunk of his UFC earnings on a shop from which he fabricates furniture and other items.

A sole TKO loss three years ago to ex-UFC bantamweight Cole Escovedo prompted the realization that fighting isn’t the sum total of his identity.

“After I got beat up, I had to get a reality check,” he said. “I don’t have to do this. It doesn’t define me if I don’t want (it) to. First and foremost, this is something I like and this is my job, and if people don’t like it, piss off. I’m not doing this for you guys, I’m doing it for me.”

McDonald certainly isn’t doing it for the attention. He recounted the story of telling off a man who kept calling with the claim they were childhood friends (when he recalled they’d only hung out once as toddlers). When the man showed up unannounced to the shop, he was angrily escorted back to his car.

Torres could shock McDonald when they meet Saturday in Atlanta, but that seems to concern him little. Cruz’s bantamweight belt is not the end-all of his aspirations as a fighter and a person, though he hinted that he might have some words for the champion if he wins.

Does he have the answers tucked in his pocket? Perhaps.

“This is a once in a lifetime experience,” MacDonald said. “People would kill or die to have this kind of experience that I’m going through. I just want to enjoy it, and whoever they put in front of me, that’s who I’m going to fight. Whether they want to have me fight the best in the world right now, or whether they want to keep me laying low. Wherever they think I should be.”

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